LESSON 4 – NOUNS

AND ARTICLES
LECCION 4: SUSTANTIVOS Y
ARTICULOS
OBJETIVOS
 Recall the agreement rules between
Spanish nouns and articles.
 Recordar las reglas de concordancia
entre sustantivos y artículos en español.
OBJETIVOS
 List the Spanish term for the parts of
the house
 Enumere el término en español para las
partes de la casa
OBJETIVOS
■Recognize the Spanish term for
family members
■Reconocer el término en español
para miembros de la familia.
SUSTANTIVOS (NOUNS )
■ Nouns in Spanish may be feminine or masculine.
■ Unlike English, in Spanish even inanimate nouns are
classified as masculine and feminine.
■ One can usually tell whether a noun is masculine or
feminine by its ending:
MASCULINE NOUNS ENDINGS

■S - mes (month), pais (country),

autobus (bus) , compas (compass)
■Ma – clima (climate), poema
(poem), coma (comatose)
Ejemplos:
• clima = climate
• poema = poem
• lema = slogan
• aroma = aroma
• coma = coma
Exception (Excepcion)
• la crema = cream
• la goma = rubber
• la llama = flame
• la estratagema = stratagem
• la pluma = feather / pen
Exception (Excepcion)
• la paloma = dove / pigeon
• la norma = standard / norm [or La
Norma which is a constellation]
• la gema = gemstone
• la rama = branch
• la palma = palm
Many Spanish nouns ending in–ta are
masculine.

■el cometa - comet

■el planeta - planet
Spanish nouns ending in -pa are
masculine despite ending in -a.

■el mapa - map

■el papa - pope
Excepcion:

■la dama - woman

■la tapa - lid, top
■la dieta - diet
MASCULINE NOUNS ENDINGS

■R - motor (motor) , par (pair),

crater (crater)
■L – pastel (pie), papel (paper), redil
(fold), mantel (tablecloth)
MASCULINE NOUNS ENDINGS

■O – libro (book), niño (boy), sueño

(dream), diccionario (dictionary)
■N – jabon (soap) , jardin (garden),
capitan (captain) , atun (tuna)
MASCULINE NOUNS ENDINGS

■E – 50 % of Spanish nouns ending in

-e
■Ejemplos:
puente (bridge) , diente (tooth) , peine
(comb)
Masculine Spanish Nouns ending in e

■ accidente (accident)
■ aire (air)
■ arte (art)
■ baile (dance)
■ café (coffee)
Masculine Spanish Nouns ending in e

■ cine (cinema)
■ coche (car)
■ deporte (sport)
■ estante (shelf)
■ parque (park)
When the word for a person or
occupation ends in -e
■ Sometimes only the article changes.
■ El cantante The singer (male)
■ La cantante The singer (female)
■ El visitanteThe visitor (male)
■ The visitante The visitor (female)
ACRONYMS FOR MASCULINE NOUNS

■SMARLONE
FEMININE NOUNS ENDINGS
■a– niña (girl), mesa (table),
ventana (window)
■cion – cancion (song), nacion
(nation), situacion (situation),
leccion (lesson)
FEMININE NOUNS ENDINGS

■sion – profesion (profession),

posesion (possession),
explosion (explosion),
discusion (discussion)
FEMININE NOUNS ENDINGS
■d – amistad (friendship), ciudad (city)
, voluntad (will)
■z – paz (peace) , cruz (cross) , luz
(light)
FEMININE NOUNS ENDINGS
■ E – 50 % of Spanish nouns ending in –e
Ejemplos:
llave (key), calle (street), fiebre (fever),
carne (meat)
FEMININE NOUNS ENDINGS
■ E – 50 % of Spanish nouns ending in –e
Ejemplos:
frase (phrase), noche (night), nieve (snow),
sangre (blood) , nube (cloud),
SPECIAL NOUNS WHICH ARE EITHER
MASCULINE OR FEMININE
■ista – turista (tourist), dentista
(dentist), periodista (journalist)
■ente – gerente (manager), cliente
(client), dirigente (leader)
SPECIAL NOUNS WHICH ARE EITHER
MASCULINE OR FEMININE

■ante – visitante (visitor),

dibujante (cartoonist),
ayudante (assistant)
RULES IN FORMING PLURAL NOUNS:

■ Add –s for nouns ending in a, e, i, o, u

puma – pumas, coche- coches, libro-libros
■ Add –es for nouns ending in consonant letter
pais – paises, mes – meses, luz - luces
Exceptions:
■ Nouns ending in –s and –x (same for singular and
plural form)
■ Ejemplos:
■ crisis – crisis
■ virus – virus
■ torax - torax
ORTHOGRAPHIC RULES
■ Nouns ending in -í, -ú, -tonics, add -
es. (el colibrí > los colibríes; el bambú >
los bambúes; el rubí > los rubies).
ARTÍCULOS ESPAÑOLES
1.ARTICULO DETERMINADO (Definite
Article) – in English “the”
Singular/Feminine: la
Plural/Feminine: las
Singular/Masculine: el
Plural/Masculine: los
ARTÍCULOS ESPAÑOLES
Ejemplos:
the book – el libro
the apple – la manzana
the books – los libros
the apples – las manzanas
ARTÍCULOS ESPAÑOLES
2. ARTICULO INDEFINIDO (Indefinite Article) In
English “a”, “an”
Singular/Feminine - una
Plural/Feminine - unas
Singular/Masculine – un
Plural/Masculine - unos
MATCHING GENDER AND NUMBER

■A singular and feminine noun needs

singular and feminine article.
■A singular and masculine noun needs
singular and masculine article.
MATCHING GENDER AND NUMBER

■ Formula:
plural/masculine noun + plural/masculine
article
plural/feminine noun + plural/feminine
article
EXCEPCIÓN A LAS REGLAS

■ When a feminine singular noun begins with

a stressed a or ha sound, the masculine
definite article is used instead of the
feminine definite article.
EXCEPCIÓN A LAS REGLAS

■When the same noun is plural,

the regular feminine article is
used.
Ejemplos:
SINGULAR PLURAL
El aguila (eagle) Las aguilas
El alma (soul) Las almas
El agua (water) Las aguas
El hacha (axe) Las hachas
EXCEPTIONS:
■the rice el arroz
■the fish el pez
■the pencil el lapiz
PARTS OF THE HOUSE/PARTES DE LA
CASA

77
PARTES DE LA CASA

1.Atico
2.Dormitorio
3.Pasillo
PARTES DE LA CASA

4. Baño
5. Sala
6. Comedor
7. Cocina
PARTES DE LA CASA
ENGLISH SPANISH
house casa
balcony balcon
Kitchen cocina
room Habitacion/cuarto
bathroom baño
PARTES DE LA CASA
ENGLISH SPANISH
Guest room habitación de huéspedes
Garage garaje
Laundry room cuarto de lavado
wall muro / pared
hallway pasillo
PARTES DE LA CASA
ENGLISH SPANISH
door puerta
Floor suelo
Basement sotano
chimney chiminea
ceiling techo
MIEMBROS DE LA FAMILIA
ENGLISH SPANISH
parents padres
mother madre
father padre
grandfather abuelo
grandmother abuela
MIEMBROS DE LA FAMILIA

ENGLISH SPANISH
uncle/aunt tio/tia
sister/brother hermana/hermano
cousin primo/prima
grandson/ nieto/
granddaughter nieta
MIEMBROS DE LA FAMILIA

ENGLISH SPANISH
father-in-law suegro
mother-in-law suegra
sister-in-law cuñada
brother-in-law cuñado
nephew/niece sobrino/sobrina
MIEMBROS DE LA FAMILIA

ENGLISH SPANISH
godfather padrino
godmother madrina
godson ahijado
goddaughter ahijada
husband esposo/marido
MIEMBROS DE LA FAMILIA

ENGLISH SPANISH
wife esposa/marida
son/daughter hijo/hija
boyfriend novio
girlfriend novia
friend amigo/amiga
ACTIVITY. Escribe el artículo definido apropiado
que se utilizará para cada sustantivo.

■ 1) __________ gato (cat))

■ 2) __________ perra (dog)
■ 3)___________ libertad (liberty)
■ 4) ___________ tarea (task)
■ 5) ___________ problema
¡ Mantengase seguro!

■El amor todo lo puede.

■Love can do it all.
■¡ Gracias por escuchar!
■Ms. Lorna R. Roldan
Video to watch….

■ Butterfly Spanish. (2020). Choose the correct

gender in Spanish: el & la - ALL you need to
know about articles in Spanish
■ Available at :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsfzbwn9
eg4
REFERENCES

■ Alba, A. Prisma eco: Metodo de español para

extranjeors. Libro del alumno
■ Anna. (2020). Butterfly Spanish. Choose the
correct gender in Spanish: el & la - ALL you need to
know about articles in Spanish. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsfzbwn9eg4
REFERENCES

■ Rosales, R. ¿Como estas? Spanish made easy

■ https://www.spanishpod101.com/blog/2019/
10/24/spanish-numbers/
■ https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Spanish_Gram
mar/Nouns_Ending_in_-ma,_-pa,_-ta